OverviewDigital design, a term used to describe a wide variety of computer related skills, includes work in fields such as web design, digital imaging and 3D modeling. The term can further be expanded to any digitally created visual media. Digital advertising and web design firms compete with individual designers to sell their expertise, while artists use the same mediums to express themselves. Amassing skills in digital design has endless benefits ranging from a source of income to a fulfilling weekend hobby.

TypesWhile there are countless types of digital design, a few are especially prominent. The most common use of the term refers to web design, which is in itself a broad field that includes digital imaging, coding, animation, interface design, and a variety of other skills. Web designers employ their digital imaging abilities to spruce up websites. Digital imaging ranges from the creation of simple navigation graphics such as buttons and arrows, all the way to complex photo doctoring and the creation of artistic imagery from scratch. Furthermore, web designers may expand their skills to animation to create interfaces that move organically to bring their imagery work to life. But animations aren’t just for websites–digital designers create 3D models for Hollywood movies, architectural planning, and the design of product prototypes. Finally, the ability to code allows web designers to tie their skills together to create an end product. But not all digital designers deal with websites. Some individuals may specialize in a niche field such as the touch-up of photographs for printing in magazines and papers.

For designers and technicians who travel to study digital design in the United States or to work in this space, it is important to stay protected in case of illness or injury. Keep an eye for the local weather, stay safe and enjoy the world of digital design!

Given the rapid increase in the stream of online shopping opportunities, each day companies are bringing in new ways to make their websites even better so as to enhance customer satisfaction. Recently, companies who strive to improve the level of customer service have started taking up Website Live Support as an effective assistance tool for online shoppers. Not only it adds to customer satisfaction but also assures success as far as online sales and digital marketing is concerned.
There are many ways in which a company can benefit from Support Chat Software. Compared to phone or email support, live support model can make a great difference in gaining sales, as the cutthroat competition prevalent in the market today requires a standout feature for the companies to compel the potential customers to choose you over other companies.
With the customer expectations raised in the modern times, there would be nothing more convenient for them than a chat button on your website. When the clients have an easy and reliable access to a company rep for help, it adds to their confidence. Quite contrary to the lengthy delays that email or phone call has to offer, a company representative can assist the customer throughout the shopping process with Website Live Support. Another very useful aspect of this application is its tracking component. This component enables an operator to see what pages a website visitor is scrolling through. It would also allow for the operator to view referral sources, demographics, information about site activity and pages that were able to hold visitor’s interest. Tracking is highly useful for a company as the study of aforementioned elements would help improve products and services.
Furthermore, integration of Website Live Support saves the capital investment for a company. Cost factor plays a very important role in business and this software can bring costs down phenomenally. Comparing to telephone services, it is exceptionally cost-effective to implement and not disruptive at all. Most importantly, crossing all the barriers, Website Live Support is globally accessible.

From 18 – 19 March 2013, Germany hosted the sixth annual digital innovation summit. The digital innovators summit hosted in Germany is an annual event and is an international digital media event bringing together over 400 executives from digital magazine companies, solution providers and technology innovators in understanding emerging trends in digital innovation, gaining exposure to new technologies relevant in the digital age, share innovative solutions, and ideas and to network.
Two major media magazine trade organizations created this annual event in order to assist media developers in developing of better strategies and building better digital media companies. Digital media corporations and executives come together during the summit in sharing their experiences, vision, and insights.
Topics included in the digital innovation summit are:
• New technologies
• Design strategies
• Creative design and experience
• Content production and journalism
• Innovations in magazine media
• Media consumption trends and needs
• Digital commerce
• Digital media
• Social media and discovery
• Mobiles and tablets
• Digital publishing trends
• Paid content
• Digital advertising
• Big data
• Digital content strategies
Over 40 country executives attend the annual event and include Managing directors, CEO’s, marketing and sales, interactive, business development, editors and publishers. Speakers at the digital summit are carefully selected and event organizers review all candidate speakers. The event organizers determine the topics touched and some of the top digital innovation speakers in the world have been invited to speak at this event.
When the digital innovation summit was launched in 2007, it was a small event in order to assist other traditional magazine publishers to come to terms in the evolving digital age and to transform to digital media. During the last couple of years, digital experience and knowledge have grown significantly and digital media companies are a lot more diversified concerning the digital media platform. A much wider audience is since attracted to this annual event in sharing views, ideas, and experiences.

The publishers Constable & Robinson and Harper Collins collaborated with the digital Innovation Contest for 2013. This contest is open to developers and start-ups and the winners of the contest have the opportunity to trail their digital prototypes with the publishers who collaborated in the contest.
IC Tomorrow is the organizers of the event and the main aim of the Technology Strategy Board program is to create new areas for digital innovation in a digital age. It is meant also to drive the digital sector’s economic growth. The sectors being targeted for merging technologies are publishing, TV industries, and advertising. Other parties working alongside the two publishers joined in the sectors are Samsung, Ogilvy and Mather, JCDecaux, Mediacom, Freemantle media UK, and YouTube.
The winners of the contest will be awarded twenty-five thousand pounds in funding that will be used in developing the commercial prototypes. In order to win a partnership with HarperCollins a participant is tasked with the challenge of submitting an innovative idea on the same theme of “Beyond the E-Book.” It is to determine how books are consumed and finding innovative new ideas and services in catering for this audience’s participation and consumption.
The other side of the contest with constable & Robinson is themed “Social and recommendation” and participants are tasked to come up with different ideas surrounding sharing in a commercially focused environment, while creating and sustaining communities around publishing content.
The future of the industries lies in collaborative efforts using strengths of different industries and leveraging their brands in creating an altogether stronger concept. Contestants must bring something innovative and new to the market to target a new audience as well as retaining old consumers. It is to take traditional skills and combine them with digital innovation and technology in order for industries like advertising and publishing not falling behind in the fast-paced world of digital innovation and communication.

Graduates with a professional or university bachelor’s degree with no specific background can apply online at the IT University of Copenhagen for the restricted competitive admission of the MSc in Digital Innovation & Management.
Skills acquired with this degree will enable graduates with the necessary skills needed in today’s digital age and be fully equipped in digital innovation both in public organisations and private sector. Radically new opportunities will be identified and the creation of bridge building between business goals, actual challenges and technology, will be possible by graduates of the Digital Innovation & Management MSc. The following job possibilities will be available to such graduates:
• Project and Team Manager
• Special advisor in IT and Digitalisation
• Organisational Consultant
• Workflow and Business Process Specialist
• Research and Innovation Specialist
• Business analyst
• Business developer
During the Digital innovation & Management MSc students have a choice of three specializations:
• Global Relations and Network Practices
• Digital Governance and Enterprise Architecture
• Process Innovation and New Business Models
This has to be taken with five mandatory modules:
• Innovation and Technology in Society – analysing of relationship between society and IT innovation with the use of conceptual tools and theoretical perspectives.
• Digital Accountably – tools to understand, identify, act and manage within legal, cultural, ethical and political frameworks surrounding IT.
• Business & Management Foundations – providing graduates with perspectives and tools for management and business.
• Foundation in Developing of IT – participates and understands IT development cycles. Graduates will have fundamental understanding of all aspects in development and building of IT systems.
• Navigating Complexity: Visualization, Mapping and Decision-making equip graduates with practical and analytical tools to visualize and analyse complex knowledge fields. Graduates will be able to cat, communicate and manage constructively in any situation where complex challenges are faced.
• Open Innovation and Design – Knowledge gained on theoretical perspectives and framework for open innovation, practical experience with tools and techniques for open innovation focussing on process design and service.

Study in Denmark
Study in Denmark is a great opportunity for students to travel abroad and study at the same time and getting to experience new and different cultures and ways of life. In today’s digital age everybody focuses on Digital Innovation and one of the top courses offered by Denmark University is the Digital Innovation & Management Program.
The digital innovation program will provide students with necessary tools in generating ideas and developing radical new opportunities in today’s complex digital age. Students will have the ability to form new relations between IT, society and people. The ever growing challenges forces people to think in new and creative ways and it is necessary to develop new values and opportunities between organizations and IT.
The MSc in Digital Innovation and Management Program will teach a student how IT works as a catalyst for fundamental change in organizations and society. The use of IT in work processes, structures and organizational strategies. Students will also have a wide perspective on organizational, societal and business opportunities when they create innovation with IT.
It is a two year University Program and English is the tuition language. The Digital Innovation & Management Program is flexible and provides students with solid skill sets while it gives them the opportunity to specialize in their own chosen area. Students use their starting point with their Bachelors’ degree and the choose one of three specializations in Digital Innovation.
Process Innovation and New Business Models – teaches a student how digital technology create new opportunities in redesigning organizational boundaries.
Digital Governance and Enterprise Architecture – enables students to form a relationship between IT governance, Business development and strategy planning in all organizations.
Global Relations and Networked Practices – students will have the tools needed to analyze challenges and create opportunities for organizations and learn to use concepts from organizational studies and anthropology to analyze different global transformations and phenomena connecting to utilization and innovation of IT.

There are several large digital innovation groups in the world and this article takes a closer look at them, why they exist and the important role they play in the digital age we all live in.
Georgia Digital Innovation Group is a collaboration of University System of Georgia and Georgia College. Their focus is on the immersion, collaboration and sharing between staff and students, community members, agencies and corporate entities using digital technology and enhancement of learning experiences related to digital innovation. Zoomerang, Apple INC. Wimba and Telestream are some of the associates of Georgia Digital innovation group and they welcome new members to join in their events. Their next event is from May 14 until the 9th of July on the digital innovation of Screenflow 4 on a Mac Operating System.
Enguage Digital Innovation Group prides them of being a full-service marketing agency in the social and digital age. They learn and continue to learn and share innovative projects, both social and digital. Engauge enquiries can be directed online to Jeff Hilimire who is the Chief Digital Officer on the official Engauge web site. They have a very long list of well-known clients including, AMC Theatres, American Electric Power, Cisco, Logitech, Graco, Wells Fargo and more.
The founder of Digital Innovations Group in Richmond, Virginia, is Kate Dunn and this group’s mission is to effectively and innovatively solve business problems through innovative strategy, purposeful creativity and inspired execution. A client of Dig in Virginia will experience profitable revenue growth, increased ROI, faster sales cycles, improved client retention and reduced marketing costs. This group’s area of expertise lies in sales chanelling, campaign tracking, integrated marketing campaigns and web design. Dig is not available for local clients, but as they are an Internet portal, they serve and assist clients globally.

The Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology established the Digital Innovation Center especially to ensure the success of future digital entrepreneurs and aid them in achieving success. At the DIC they assist with their expertise and knowledge to turn an innovative idea into viable business. Hopeful applicants can apply with a digitally innovative idea at the center and successful applicants will be able to run their digital innovation within two years.
The center’s vision is Arabic digital content and plant ideas to be nurtured with intellectual, financial support and the infrastructure needed. The Mission of the Digital Innovation Centre is regional advancement and increasing digital entrepreneurs graduating there.
College graduates have the opportunity to work together with international experts at the center, to improve lives through digital innovation in the digital age of today. Collaboration and creativity are at the order of the center in various areas including: telecommunication, E-literacy, government, business development, education and healthcare.
The various career opportunities available offer competitive packages, including communication allowances, housing, basic salary, medical benefits, airfares, furniture grant, annual performance bonus, annual leave, end of service benefits and car loans.
Motivated and talented professionals with digital innovation dreams and need a rewarding and challenging career can apply for various open positions such as:
Legal Translator
Dispute Resolution – Lawyer
Engineer DNS/UNIX
Senior Regulatory Expert
Licensing Regulatory Expert
Senior Accountant
Performance and Training section Manager
Section Manager Entrepreneurs Engagement
The center is an equal opportunity employment structure and a complete recruitment process takes 2 – 3 months if all supportive documentation is available. Potential candidates are selected based on experience and qualifications. Short-listed candidates will receive a preliminary telephonic interview and in some cases a written exam is required for assessment of an applicant’s technical ability and skills.
Successful applicants will receive an offer and must produce medical documentation and if from another country, they must have Police Clearance Certificate, Work Visa and copies of their educational certificates.

With the advent of TiVo in America in1997, rolled-out internationally, user-generated content coupled with the Internet and PVR decoders has made viewers much more independent in choosing what they wish to watch. The general public is no longer lulled by conventional advertising, and, if they can skip a commercial, they will – unless, of course, the ad is highly engaging. People don’t want to be talked down to, but they do want information presented to them in a clear and succinct way. Above all though, they still want to be entertained.

Television advertising in many ways started with animated commercials, which exploded in the fifties and insinuated itself into the industry well into the early nineties. You couldn’t see a breakfast cereal or sugary drink advert as a child without remembering the bunny or captain or monkey accompanying the jingle. Since the introduction of cheaper home-video equipment in the early nineties, smaller businesses have been able to make adverts at a reasonable rate, and more and more companies started opting for live action. It appears as if the industry has come full circle now, however, with the return to animated adverts, albeit this time with computer generated and digital animation.

Digital Character Animated Television Commercials (DCA TVCs) are an emerging trend in the television and advertising world, but even within this market further sub trends are developing. The benefits are plain to see. Lower costs, less staff, and a near endless well of possibilities. Flying cars, talking dogs and transforming buildings are now as easy [as a few thousand clicks of a button. One of the biggest, and certainly the most memorable trends to emerge, is that of anthropomorphic or personified characters, animals or objects that have had life breathed into them. Seldom will you find an effective mascot or brand image that does not have this quality. Granted, many are also ineffective, but this is where superior creativity and execution comes into play.

It’s that time of year again, where we look into our crystal ball to see what will be the hot trends in web design for the upcoming year. It’s no secret that trends come and go, with some hanging around longer than they should. (Yes, splash page, I’m talking about you.) But trends are a necessity in the development and growth of our craft. Trends are born, improved upon, and often spawn other trends. So as a web designer, when you apply trends to your projects, challenge yourself to expand upon them and make them your own.

As you read this article, keep in mind that the shift in trends from one year to the next may be subtle, and you will probably recognize some of these trends already. But it’s our estimation that the concepts we mention below will grow and become even bigger in 2012.

1. Responsive Web Design

I believe eventually, we’ll all stop talking about responsive web design – not because it will go away, but because it will become what’s expected. However, I don’t think this will happen in 2012. It’s still too new of a concept, and there are many web designers that are not familiar with it at all.

The continued introduction and adoption of more an more mobile devices is what will make 2012 the year of the responsive web site. Web designers and developers will move to the use of fluid layouts instead fixed width, and media queries will find their way into many more stylesheets – allowing more sites to easily be viewed across multiple screens sizes and devices.

2. Fixed-Position Navigation

We have all run into this technique at some point, mostly on personal websites or individual blogs. I have seen a large drop in this trend during 2010-2011, but a resurgence has been appearing over the last few months.

If your website doesn’t have a lot of main navigation then you only need to provide a few small links. So why not keep these visible to each user at all times? This can dramatically improve website performance and even blend into the overall page layout with ease. The concept idea is to keep the navbar and internal links/logo locked in place as your visitors scroll through the content.

Nature inspired: Nature inspired line art on design materials creates a design that is artfully combined and visually interesting. Web design is also turning to nature. Moving forward in 2012 we will continue to see websites with nature backgrounds or the display of nature inspiration with textures. Take a look at Two Expert Design website on some of the top nature inspired websites. This design aesthetic fashions a welcoming and fresh look for the work.

Patterns: Pattern creates a sophisticated look. Luxury brands oftentime use patterns in their packaging or collateral materials to make their products feel even more elite. A good example of this is a wine bottle or whisky brand.

Mobile Please: Mobile users increase every year, so having a website that is both touch-friendly and mouse-friendly is more of a necessity than a trend. Mobile users have a major influence in considering minimal web design. This translates to faster loading times, interactivity, and simpler pages for those using mobile devices. According to Omniture, mobile-optimized experience produces an average of 75% higher rate of engagements per mobile visitor.

Infographics: This use of visual representation of stats has seen a burst of explosion recently. This will continue to get more popular with the current global economy as businesses budgets are scrutinized for optimal efficiencies and growth or sustainability. Here are some great examples from some of the top infographics in 2010.

Lighter color palette: Bright color palettes have been around in all aspects of design for many years, but not this year. We have seen more use of pastel colors in collateral, packaging and web design. Expect the trend to go forward into next year.

Recycled: It is very trendy right now to promote sustainability, especially in Seattle, by using FSC certified paper and recycled materials for print collateral. Nike has taken this idea one step further, now including clips from their old commercials over the years to create this clip calling this NikeBetterWorld.

Light texture: Print designers are going to be using paper with light texture to enhance the textile quality of their work. For all you webbies, web designers will see more light texture (aka make some noise!). Texture helps create depth to the flat dimension of an on-screen design. Take a look at some good examples here at Psd Tuts Plus’s website.